AIR links between Hongkong, Taiwan and China will be discussed in a conference to be held in Taipei in November, according to a Taiwan scholar involved in the preparation of the event.
Professor Cheng Chia-jui of the Graduate School of Law of the Soochow University in Taiwan said yesterday aviation experts and international law specialists from the three sides would attempt to sort out the myriad of legal questions surrounding the issues at the conference.
While preparations were still under way, he said it was expected that an international law expert from the Hongkong University and representatives from Cathay Pacific Airways and the Hongkong Government would be invited.
Top representatives from the six major mainland airlines and legal experts from Beijing are also on the invitation list.
According to Professor Cheng, Hongkong's status as an international air transport centre will be in doubt unless the legal implications are resolved.
In Hongkong attending a legal seminar, Professor Cheng said both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law provided little details on Hongkong's position as an aviation centre.
He felt that drafters of the Basic Law and the Joint Declaration had failed to take into account the possible consequences of the two documents on areas such as aviation and transport.